Trends in Respiratory Viral Testing in Pediatric Emergency Departments Following the COVID-19 Pandemic.

STUDY OBJECTIVE

To evaluate for increases in the use and costs of respiratory viral testing in pediatric emergency departments (EDs) because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

METHODS

We performed a cross-sectional study using the pediatric health information system. Eligible subjects were children (90 days to 18 years) who were discharged from a pediatric ED and included in the pediatric health information system from October 2016 through March 2024. To evaluate for changes in the frequency and costs of respiratory viral testing, we performed an interrupted time series analysis across 3 study periods: prepandemic (October 1, 2016 to March 14, 2020), early pandemic (March 15, 2020 to December 31, 2023), and late pandemic (January 1, 2023 to March 31, 2024).

RESULTS

We included 15,261,939 encounters from 34 pediatric EDs over the 90-month study period. At least 1 viral respiratory test was performed for 460,826 of 7,311,177 prepandemic encounters (6.3%), 1,240,807 of 5,100,796 early pandemic encounters (24.3%), and 545,696 of 2,849,966 late pandemic encounters (19.1%). There was a positive prepandemic slope in viral testing (0.17% encounters/month; 95% CI 0.17 to 0.18). The early pandemic was associated with a shift change of 4.98% (95% CI 4.90 to 5.07) and a positive slope (0.54% encounters/month; 95% CI 0.54 to 0.55). The late pandemic period was associated with a negative shift (-17.80%; 95% CI -17.90 to -17.70) and a positive slope (0.42% encounters/month; 95% CI 0.41 to 0.42). The slope in testing costs increased from $5,000/month (95% CI $4,200 to $5,700) to $33,000/month (95% CI $32,000 to $34,000) during the early pandemic.

CONCLUSION

Respiratory testing and associated costs increased during the COVID-19 pandemic and were sustained despite decreasing incidence of disease. These findings highlight a need for further efforts to clarify indications for viral testing in the ED and efforts to reduce low-value testing.